A Nightmare Living The Dream
by HiddenChaser
Summary: The Coup that removed Emily from the throne, is now in control. Without a way to escape, Emily Kaldwin is in a tight situation as she tries to reclaim the throne. However, she is captured by the very ones that have overthrown her and is being sent to Coldridge Prison. Emily must work quick in order to avoid being placed on trial for the Crown Killer murders and to save Corvo.
1. Taking Crowns

A lost crown always looks more bitter on the head of someone else. To Emily the shine loses it's glow and everything around the new Empress looks dead. It is almost as if every living soul has been sucked out of the tower the moment Delilah Copperspoon waltzed into the palace. Her cocky sway of the hips and pointed fingers angered Emily to no end. No one is to disrespect her. She is-was the Empress. Yet, even with so many loyal people by her side, there were so many more willing to betray her at the first opportunity. Unfortunately for her, that was exactly what happened to her. Within minutes, on her mother's passing anniversary no less, everything was taken from Emily. Her father, throne, pride, and trust. In seconds it all melted away by that witch, Delilah.

Delilah dared to enter into Emily's territory and claim it all for her own. The event occurred so quickly that Emily was left in stunned at just the thought of her actually having another living relative. When the word "aunt" left Delilah's lips, Emily found herself floored but willing to allow the estranged woman into her home. It was the only polite offer she could think of for such odd circumstance. After all, family should always be together. However, Delilah was far from interested with connecting with family. She had bigger goals. When Delilah looked at Emily on the throne she paid no mind to her niece. Instead, her eyes focused solely on the throne. The cool chair that could easily turn any man into a God. Every command and order is obeyed so long as you are the one sitting on the throne. Delilah has craved that chair for so many years. Not just for the sake of having power but to take what was hers. That throne belonged to her, not her bastard of a niece. Sure, it is easy for her to judge Emily for being a child born out of wedlock because so was she. Delilah was the first born from the Emperor himself. Yet, her half sister Jessamine was promised it all. A future, royalty, and the throne. Jessamine should have never taken all that power for it belonged to Delilah, but she did. Everything was taken and in turn passed onto Emily. So they stood against each other for a short while as the coup began. As Delilah had planned, it occurred smoothly. Her allies were swift and her strength was no match for Emily. The young Empress was soon knocked to the ground with ease and dragged up to her chambers, where the key to the hidden escape route was taken from her. This was Delilah's victory and she was going to enjoy every moment of it.

Now Emily stands in her chambers, trapped and tried from the events that have unfolded. However, she needs a plan to escape or else she will leave herself exposed to great danger. Quickly, Emily goes to the door of the room and peaks out with the large keyhole. Guards move about the hallways. They move about easily despite Emily hearing screams of terrors from down the hallway. By the sound of it some people are still resisting the coup and are unfortunately failing to stop it. From the keyhole, Emily is disturbed by how calm everyone looks. The guards do not seem fazed at all the sound of people dying down the hallway nor do they even look like they care. To them this was just another day at work. As much as Emily wishes to concern herself with the other people in the tower, she knows it would be unwise to try and get attention on herself by trying to bash through the door. Even if she wanted to do that as a plan, it would be impossible to do is. With the door now lock, and the door thick as wood, the chamber door would stay up strong against her normal strength.

Emily pulls away from the door. She lets out an annoyed huff of air as she looks about her chambers. Everything looks normal in there despite the chaos in the other side of the door. Papers sit nicely at her desk as an old clock ticks quietly in the background. It makes her anxious though. Every second that passes reminds her that she is running out of time to come with a plan. She breathes in slowly to try and steady her nerve. Now is the time that she needs to remain collect. If she is to regain control of the situation she will need to use her head. Quickly, Emily looks around the room for anything of use. Her dark brown eyes dart about and land immediately at a window. Of course! A window. They were so quick to dump Emily into the room that they never bothered to ensure the windows would be locked. A surge of hope rushes through Emily and she makes her way towards the window. She gently pushes it open and the window slides open with ease. Though it would be understandable as to why the windows were never looked at. The room was far from being on the first floor and looking down from out the window, Emily sees the crashing waves of water hitting up against the tower. Jagged rocks can barely be seen from way up high as the tides force the water to shift and move. The sight is honestly intimidating.

"Don't got much of a choice," Emily mumbles to herself. Moving slowly, but carefully, Emily slides out of the window. A harsh wind of salt air hits her the moment she stands at the ledge of the building. She finds herself grateful for not having much of a fear of heights but the sight of the fall is still highly intimidating to her. She just needs to treat this as one of her training exercises with Corvo. The crashing waves break her train of thought as she reminds herself that it would be unwise of her to stay in such a dangerous position. Shuffling her feet, Emily does a balancing act on the thin ledge. Every step is taken with precaution as her hand glides against the stone cold building. Luckily, the window for the next room over, the royal bedroom, was also unlock.

Entering, Emily catches sight of bodies around the room. Nearly every one of them she recognizes as being one of her loyal servants. It is a bitter thought that earlier in the day they were all alive and ready for another day of work. Their blood now stains the carpets and sooner or later their bodies will be disposed of in an uncaring manner. Who knows? They might even blame Emily Kaldwin for their deaths too since they seem keen on framing her already for the Crown Killer murders. All this is just more mess for her to clean up. With a heavy sigh, Emily steadies her footing but feels her world shake once more when recognizing one of the bodies on the ground. Alexi. The poor woman never saw the blade coming. Emily was in a foggy daze when she was dragged off away from the throne, but she remembered the young Captain taking the blade right to the gut. A twitch of the finger startles her. Alexi is still alive, just barely. Emily quickly goes up to the dying woman as they exchanged quick words with each other, but within seconds, she too ends up like one of the many cold lifeless bodies on the ground. As Alexi lays against the wall, bleeding from Corvo's sword. Death has always played a part in the kingdom, Emily recognizes that. Yet, she never thought it would ever be so personal to her. Too many in her have already died and she's only at the early age of 25. It's nothing to really be proud of. It makes her heart heavy as she glances to the floor. In the mix of blood her father's sword lays on the ground. It is tempting her to pick it up. Emily wonders briefly how easily she could solve many of her issues with just a swing of a sword. Though it is not the way Corvo taught her. Her father took precaution in cutting down other lives and actually kept it to a minimum. He only killed when absolutely no other options were left. It is respectable to Emily and because of that she tries to follow the same way of thinking. Though looking at the trail of destruction that was gained through their peaceful actions, Emily is starting to wonder if it is actually worth it. Peaceful seems to be lacking any benefits at the moment. It is why Emily grabs onto the sword tightly. It feels right. The blood covering doesn't have to be from the ones she considers allies. She could always restrain it with the blood of her enemies. To exact revenge on them all sounds perfect right now. They don't deserve to live. Emily holds onto the blade for her dear life as she gets up from the ground. Now armed once more, she should be able to defend herself. Yet, a loud thud of a footstep catches her attention. A guard happens to be passing by and quickly catches sight of the escaped former Empress. There is a split second where their eyes stayed glued to each other right before Emily raises up her sword in a ready position.

"You there! How did you get here," he yells out to her. Emily doesn't respond. Instead she tries to keep her mind calm. This is what her training has led to. This is not a training exercise nor a game. They both recognize this but instead of the guard reaching for his sword. His hand snatches onto a small pocket on the side of his uniform. Emily charges forward with the blade. Within a second the space between them is closed and right when Emily is inches away from the guard, a light reflection shines in his hand. Out of the pocket comes a needle. One that Emily is sure of Corvo using many times. A sleep dart designed knock out a dangerous beast in seconds. She instantly regrets being so close now and falters in her attack. Her moment of hesitation is long enough for the guard to lung the needle into Emily. It pokes through her layers of clothes as it punctures her arm. Despite her pulling away quickly, a rush of dizziness sticks her even as panic sets in the back of her mind. A full thought is not able to be formed as her eyes start to see stars. Her legs instantly starts to buckle under her as Emily tries to not lose her grip on her sword. The guard takes this moment of weakness and shoves Emily to the ground. Already feeling off balance, it is enough to send Emily tumbling to the floor. She wants to get up. She knows she needs to. Yet, it feels so much more comfortable laying there as the sleep drug quickly sets in, knocking her out.

Emily is unsure how long she was unconscious. What she does know is that she reawakens with much anxiety and adrenaline. From her last memories, she knows she's in danger. So her eyes shoot open to take in her surroundings. To her surprise she is only back in the chambers. She has been sloppily places on the fine couch in the room. The place is much dimmer now, indicating that a few hours might have passed as the natural lighting is almost non existent. Emily struggles to sit up but she recognizes there are three guards scattered about in the room. All of them quickly look towards Emily once noticing she is no longer sleeping.

"She's awake," one guard states boredly.

"About time. I thought we might have killed her. The Empress would have been furious with us." Another one replies as he starts to stretch. He looks as if he was lounging about before she had awoken. Despite her instincts of danger kicking in, Emily looks around slowly. Her head is feeling foggy and everything looks almost slowed down to her. Shakily, Emily gets herself up properly up against the couch as the guards all approach her. She reaches for the blade on her side to only realize it is not there. They must have confiscated it. The guards catches the action and one snarls at her while standing in front of her.

"Oh, look at what she's trying to do fellas? She think we'd leave her armed." A round of laughters leave them. Emily frowns at them and she meets the eyes of one of the guards. His look hardens and he reaches forward and snatches the front of her coat.

"What're you looking at? Don't give me pissed off look like that! You're an absolute nobody now," he nearly yells in her face. In anger, Emily tries shoving him away from her but only angers the guard even more. He stays firmly placed in his spot and tightens his grip on her coat before throwing her to the group. The action is sudden. She barely catches herself before completely tumbling to the floor. The other guards are done laughing now but do look annoyed at the attempt of aggression from Emily.

"You killed so many people and thought you could actually get away with it?!" One of the guard express. "Good thing Empress Delilah stepped in. Who knows how many more you woulda killed for your own political gain?"

Emily slowly gets to her feet as the three guards surround her. All of them bigger and stronger than her.

"The Crown Killer murders were not done by me nor my father," Emily defends bitterly.

One of the guards rolls his eyes, not believing her. "Good luck proving that to the judge on your court date. I'm sure they'll believe you despite all the damning evidence on you," another one mocks.

"You had some good people killed," the one on her right starts. "and for what? To ensure no one disagrees with you? You already had so much power. Typical of you royals to be doing this while my kids are out their, sick with the plague!" Emily can see the anger in the guard's eyes. She would have honestly taken responsibility if she even did play a part in the killings but this is all out of her hands. All Emily could do while on the throne was to try and lessen the plague effects and victims. With limited resources and greedy nobles, Emily only has so much command without angering her rich supporters. Losing them would easily result in her losing funding and donations from them. However, they always wanted something in return. Power, land, and sketchy promises that Emily felt uncomfortable agreeing to. Despite being Empress, it does not always come with complete power so long as you play the game fair. Unfortunately for her, she's been playing the game fair the entire time. They do not understand the choices an Empress has to make at times, and sometimes Emily wonders if she's always made the right call for her people. Yet, no matter what she says she knows that it will not help her now. Right now, she has three angry guards around her. The only thing she could try and do now is try and defuse the situation, as her father always suggested. Try a peaceful route. It always seems to fail her but Corvo always insisted on doing things that way. Maybe she is just doing it wrong.

"I'm sorry to hear that about your children, but do you really think Delilah on the throne is going to help in the plague? She is clearly just trying to get power. She does not care about the people," Emily responds.

The same guard scuffs. "She's already made many promises to have you fancy rich folks cough up more money for us little guys. It sounds to me she is focusing on helping people and not just trying to make sure her political opponents are dead."

Emily shakes her head. "What are you talking about? She is threatening to put charges on me so that way she could keep the throne."

"That is because you committed a crime!" The guard directly in front her responds instead. "And just like every criminal, you are going to pay."

Emily frowns at the man and tightens her fist. She's tired of this game. At this rate she is going nowhere and there is no point arguing with lowly guards. They have already made up their minds on who's side they're on. Reasoning with them is just a waste of her time. Corvo was wrong. Not everything could be solved through peace. A guard smiles at her when seeing her fist.

"What are you going to do about it then?" The same guard is a quick moment where there is silence. Emily stares the guard down with her fist still clenching and knuckles turning more pale. Exhaling, she loosens her fist and relaxes her muscles. Corvo has instilled too much into her and it shows. "That's what I thought," he replies. He shakes his head and quickly raises his own fist up. She doesn't see it at first, but the punch is thrown at Emily from one of the guards. It too fast for her to dodge. She does not even have time to blink before the punch lands a solid hit on her face. Minor blood sprays as her teeth collide with her lip, busting it open. The force is enough to, once more, go tumbling to the ground. The shock wave of pain hurts, but probably not as much as the soft laughter coming from one of the guards. It sends a wave of anger through Emily as she quickly tries to get up to her feet once more. However, she is shoved back down to the ground once more by one of the guards. Most of them laugh now except for one guard who tries to keep a straight face. Though an amused smile is there, Emily notices when she glances up.

Before she could say anything, a shadow emerges from the hallway. With the door still crept open, and the candles lighting up the hallway, the slim shadow eats up the room. The laughing stops instantly. The figure enters the room with such high confidence and Emily takes the opportunity to stand up. No one stop her this time as the guards take the moment to bow to their new ruler entering. Delilah walks slowly into the room, followed by two more guard accompany her. They do not enter far into the room however as they stay close to the door and wait. Delilah looks about the room, almost ignoring Emily was there too. Delilah gives a thoughtful hum as she studies every every inch of her new prize. The drapes hangs firmly from the rod it is attached to as gold threading outlining shines against Delilah's eyes. The little light in the room aid in the glow and Emily would be lying if she said she was not intimidated for a split second. Though she keeps a strong expression as Delilah turns to her. All the guards give a quick and deep bow once more when Delilah gets close.

"Hello, my dear niece. I'm so glad to see you are looking well-oh!" She rinses her hand up to Emily's busted lip. Dried blood covers the area and it swells minorly. It does not look serious at all but enough to still be noticeable. Emily can feel Delilah's grip tighten ever so more by each passing second. "Your poor lip is busted. I'm sure it will heal quickly," Delilah states mockingly. Emily can see the false motherly instincts and it is hard for her not to jerk her head away. She doesn't like being touched without granting someone permission to do so. Yet, she understands the shift in power and that she is on the losing side of it. There is not much she could do, besides return a heavy glare back. Her brown eyes almost look black by the heavy look she gives. Delilah ignores the look. Instead, she only tightens her grip on Emily's face as if she is trying to prevent her from even moving in the first place. Delilah chuckles softly. "But we both know that pretty face of yours could have saved some damage if you were not so hostile."

Emily lets out an annoyed huff as she pulls away roughly. Delilah loosens her grip enough to allow her to slip out of her grasp. However, her nails are sharp and far too pointed. They scrape against Emily's face from the action and leave and small stinging pain. Minor scratch marks are left on Emily's chin and check and it is enough to make her wince. The red markings should fade in a few seconds but the amused look on Delilah's face won't leave anytime soon. "My, my. For a former Empress, you have far too much…" Delilah paused to search for the right word. She then points back at Emily. "...rudeness."

Emily could feel the glares coming from the guards. Though they only remain standing close by, ready to jump at any wrong move Emily makes.

"You don't deserve the throne and you know it," Emily counters quickly as she points accusingly to the other woman. She has the right to be upset. She was born for this and this woman took it from her. It sickens Emily to no end. She's been through far too much to allow some bitter old woman to take what belongs to her. It is her throne.

"Do you genuinely believe that?" A dark look from Delilah does not escape Emily's gaze. She is almost lost for words when Delilah takes one step closer to her. The young woman knows better than to step down and instead raises her head up to try and meet her aunt's eyes. "Do you, of all people, think that the throne belongs to you? Ha...you are like your mother. You take and take, but it is always someone else's possessions that you take from. I was the first born, not your mother. If out of the two of us, you are the less deserving of the leadership," Delilah comments darkly before relaxing. A smirk enters her face as she stares Emily down. The younger of the two keeps a blank face. Truth be told, Emily does not know how to respond back to the allegation than to remind that the only difference is that Jessamine was at least not a bastard child like Delilah. However, before Emily could make such a remark, Delilah takes a step back. "But do not worry, my little niece. I'm sure we could find some suitable work for you here. You might even like your place after a while...that is if you behave."

Emily sneers in response immediately, but it only makes Delilah smile even wider as she turns her back to Emily. Her clothes gracefully float in the wind with such confidence. It's tempting to Emily to reach out and attack the woman. She would admit it would give her much satisfaction to do so. However, a list of many consequences goes rushing through her head. She could only imagine her own reaction if someone would do the same to her. Assaulting an Empress could easily result in the death sentence or some other high, and painful, punishment. Emily might not view her aunt as the ruler but reality is that Delilah is pulling the strings right now. She is enjoying her place on the throne and Emily understands that the instant gratification will quickly result in regret. She needs to play this game right. If Emily wants to save Corvo and recover her place as the Empress, she will need to strike at the right moment. As Delilah walks away, she gives one final look back to Emily. An amused expression clings to her face as her slick hair reflects the candle light. Emily keeps an unamused face as she grinds her teeth together.

"It was nice having a word or two with you, my little sparrow. I do believe though you must be going. I don't wish to keep you from your ride to Coldridge prison. I will be sure to visit though." She gives a light laugh for a second. "Oh, and if I were you, I would quickly start cooperating. I hear murderers are not let off lightly here. It would be a shame if you were executed for all those poor souls you killed." Delilah turns her back once more as the guards next to her quickly grab onto Emily's arms. Their grip is tight and her heart is starting to race. Delilah walks out of the room happily as a few seconds later, they start dragging Emily out of the room too.

"Get moving," one commands. Emily complies numbly. Her legs move slowly as to somehow prevent this all from happening. Her mind is still trying to process all that has happened. She really lost the throne and the bitterness is not lightening up. If anything it is making her motivated to make them all pay.


	2. Trapped

The long walk to Coldridge Prison was hard for Emily. By the time they got moving to take her there, the night sky was already up and most of the people in Dunwalla were sleeping. It seemed like the perfect time to move an important person, such as Emily Kaldwin. Very few people are lurking around such an odd hour. Despite the calmness now, Emily can not help but to feel rushing anxiety as she is transported to Coldridge, just a few feet away from the home she has always known.

To her disappointment, they arrive to Coldridge without anyone interfering and she is immediately taken inside. In her youth she was never allowed to enter such a place. It was considered beneath them and dangerous to visit Coldridge. The only other times Emily has ever entered the place was maybe two years ago when the prison was nearly begging for more funding. They offered the young Empress a tour at the time, and not wanting to be doing paperwork that day, Emily had agreed to it. The tour was less than an hour and was mostly her being taken to offices and maintenance areas. At the time she was not shown the prisoners nor highly controversial areas such as the execution yard or the interrogation room. No, at the time it was just a simple tour that was followed by a short presentation. It didn't take long before Emily was bored of the place and simply agreed to granting the prison a couple of thousand coins more just so she could leave the place. At the time Corvo was there and also eager to leave. Emily had known of Corvo being locked there for her mother's death. Even after she insisted for him to not attend the tour, Corvo denied the command as he felt obligated to go to keep a safe eye on Emily. His protective nature concerned Emily only because she understood how hard it must have been for Corvo to return to such a place.

Yet, like father like daughter, Emily finds herself in the prison. This time she is not a guest and she can not simply walk out. Emily finds herself now registered as one of the inmates there. Despite her being in complete disbelief, that does not stop her from getting placed in a cell, in the first floor in a cell block she doesn't even know. She is locked up as if she is common street gang member.

Her cell is not special nor welcoming either. The walls are dirty even though a white coat of paint covers it. The place has a foul odor about it's she is sure that many of the prisoners, and some of the guards, has not showered in days. Rats scurry about as if it their home as they inch closer to Emily to see their new guest. The worst part is the cell she is locked in. It is small with nothing it. Concrete walls surround her and forces the place to feel more cold than what it actually is.

In her first night, Emily can not sleep. The only resting spot she has is a concrete slab on the side that is supposed to be her bed. A thin, small cloth comes with it and it is not nearly thick enough to provide cushion against the hard concrete. She tries to use the cloth at first as a blanket, then as a pillow (since they never bothered to give her one), and then she moved it once more to lay on it.

She keeps tossing and turning due to the lack of comfort. Going from the best sleeping quarters to a dingy prison cell is far too much of a drastic change for her. The running of rats in her cell does not help as sometimes they get too curious and try climbing on her in the night. It is all bothersome to say the least. So she gets up several times throughout the night to either pace in her cell or to sit tiredly on her new bed. It is not until the very early hours in the morning, just when the sun starts to rise, that she falls asleep. However, she is awaken about two hours later by the sound of a guard yelling. The words do not make much sense since the voice does not sound directly in front of her cell. Though she is still annoyed known the less. For a split second Emily thought she was still in the palace and was ready to scold the guard for disturbing her sleep. Just as she was about to complain, she remembers everything. The coup. Delilah. Her father. Getting caught. The rush of memories eat her up and instantly she is sadden at her predicament. Emily looks up from her cell as she sees two guards dragging another prisoner out their cell.

It is a way older man that is being transported. To where? She doesn't know. Though by his aged face and small frame, the man looks like he couldn't hurt a fly. So after Emily rubs her tired eyes, and drags herself to the bars of her cell, she catches sight of one of the taller guards punching the man in the stomach. There was no sign of hostility from the older inmate, and by the guards laughter, they were just doing this for fun.

The rough handling is disappointing to say the least. Emily watches quietly in her cell as the other guard walks up to his coworker to make sure the older prisoner wouldn't try anything. Though by looking at him up and down, Emily is more than sure this guy would probably fall over even if someone just breathes on him. He is skinny and dirty, with graying hair sticking to his skin. To Emily he looks like many of the people trapped in poverty, and by his aged eyes, he is probably too old to keep a proper job.

The fact that he is literally being pushed around, disappoints her. There is no doubt in her mind that the guards are not suddenly abusing their power because Emily lost the throne. No. She understands that this might have always been an issue. Emily would be lying to herself if she said she knew every problem that was going on in her land, but to see the misuse of power first hand is sickening. She wants to cut those guards up and watch the life drain slowly from their eyes. This treatment is cruel and Emily is more than sure that they'd be begging for mercy once her gets her throne back. She'd make them pay.

One of the guards holds tightly to the man as the other one takes out a baton and swings it right towards the man's legs. The cracking of bones ring throughout the holding block. Emily flinches at the sight but does not look away. The older man cries out in pain as his knees buckle under the attack. Yet, it only prompts them to strike at him once more. She is not disgusted by the sight but instead angered by it.

"Hey! What are you doing to him? Leave that man alone," Emily calls out from her cell.

The sadistic smiles on the guard's faces turn sour immediately upon hearing those words. The thinner of the two guards makes his way towards Emily and plants himself right in front of her cell. Emily remains standing tall. "You be quiet in there. This is none of your business. Just like you, he be a criminal. You are all property of the state now. Don't cause trouble and you wouldn't need to worry about getting a good beating," he comments with a hint of laughter in his voice. This is all a game to him, but she is more than sure if she played a similar game with them, they'd all be crying for it to stop. "Now just go sit down and be quiet, Ms. Emily."

The prison guard turns his back on her right as she called out to him. "And if I don't," Emily questions.

He stops instantly and slowly turns back towards her. "If I was anyone else, you'd be in the stocks by now. Go ahead. Keep running your mouth. You'll start behaving soon. After all, Empress Delilah's got plans for you soon. You wouldn't want her to hear you've been acting up here, would you?"

To Emily's surprise, the guard turns away once again despite those threatening words leave his lips. Emily has no doubt that many are eager to get to her and blame her for much of their personal troubles. Yet, as she opens her mouth again, she can see the prisoner shaking his head at her, not wanting her to say anything else in his defense. It will probably only cause him more pain.

She feels hopeless and now lost for words. They return back to the older man as they start to drag him out of her sight. Hours pass with nothing for her to do. It's all just a waiting game for her. Every once in a while, when the guards would do a shift change, they would stop by her cell to see if Emily Kaldwin was actually imprisoned. It's not every day they get to see a former Empress locked in a cell. Many do not say anything to her. They just look in and give a surprised hum everytime and then walk away. Some are braver and try to hold a conversation with her. Most ask if she really did have a role in the murders. She denies it every time even when they look at her in disbelief. Emily is unsure if they ask out of curiosity or if they are trying to get a simple confession. Though she is sure that if they wanted a confession from her they would have surely taken her to the interrogation room.

Even though it is just her first official day locked up, they haven't made any comments about interrogating her. It is only a matter of time, however. Emily is fully aware that they are trying to make it appear that she, or Corvo, is the Crown Killer. With Corvo also "imprisoned", and always being the less aggressive of the two, it is much simpler now for Emily to take the blame. All they would need to make things more simple is to get her to admit to the crime. As much as Emily would hate to admit it but everything is stacked against her. An actual killer is out there and there is no way of her to go out and uncover this mystery.

As Emily ponders over this, a gentle cough from the cell over breaks her thought. Soon, a hand holding up a broken, dirty piece of mirror is visible right next to her cell. The reflection of a middle aged man shines off of the mirror. He moves the mirror around to let the reflection show her. Emily raised her eyebrow before making her way closer to the bars to see what her neighbor wants. A cough once more leaves him as Emily can spot messy brown hair under a hat just by the dirty reflection. "You really Empress Emily Kaldwin," the other prisoner asks.

Emily hesitates for a split second but came to a fair response. "I was."

A thoughtful hum leaves the man right away. His arm remains stretched out with the mirror so that way they both can still see each other. His face is covered in grime and dirt but Emily could still see the sadden expression entering his face. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Even locked up here we heard all that commotion out there. I heard a lot of good people got killed. If it makes you feel any better, I believe you're innocent, your majesty."

Even as she felt angry all day, the fact that someone believes her, brings some form of comfort. She can't be mad right now. "I appreciate that. Though I'm unsure what my future holds. No one ever really plans for a coup."

"Just keep your head up, your majesty. No good feeling bad all the time," he states.

"I suppose," Emily replies. She pauses for a second. "Sooo, what did you do to be here?"

"I stole some food," he answers.

Emily tilts her head at the response. She leans against the cool bars to try and get a better look at him. "That it?" It seems like such a petty crime that she's surprise they even locked him. A simple fee or two hours in the stocks would have sufficed.

"No offense, but your City Watch folk jump down our throat the moment we step out of line," he explains carefully.

"Do you know when you are getting out of here," Emily asks mostly just to keep conversing. There's nothing else to do here. At least talking to someone, other than a guard, is more entertaining. Other than this she'd just be sitting around worrying about what's going to happen to her.

"To be frank with you, your majesty, no one ever really knows. They just lock you up and sometimes when they need the space for bigger crooks, then they might release us little guys. The last gentleman in there was arrested for punching a City Watch guard after he had too many to drink. He was here for a good year. Though they needed a cell for you. So I suppose they picked him by random."

"They let him go?"

There is a moment of hesitation. From the reflection of the tiny mirror she can see him frown softly. "No, your majesty. They made him visit the execution yard."

"Oh." She's lost for words and her awkward response does not help.

"No offense, your majesty but we have much problems here in Dunwall. Plenty of them existed before you lost that fancy chair of yours," he replies carefully as he pulls the mirror back into his cell. Emily is lost for words for a moment. It would be easy for her to reply with a snarky answer. These people don't understand. They don't know how hard it is to rule over so many people. It's hard to be perfect with so much power. Everyone criticizes her but none of them have ever sat on that throne. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she gets up and moves to the back part of her cell.

Emily leans against the stone wall. Right now she feels pretty alone in this world and she currently has no proper plan in motion. Emily has come up with a few thoughts here and there. Some are outrageous and others might be doable under the perfect circumstances. She remembers back on Corvo's story telling of his own escape from Coldridge. Help from an outside source was his ticket out along with his skills. She has the skills but lacks any aid that she knows of. Emily knows she must have some supporters out there and sadly a good number of them got cut down at her own event. It doesn't help that many were opposing her rule due to her not taking the title seriously enough. Emily would be the first to admit that her first few years left a bad example of leadership. Always throwing her responsibilities to the side left much disapproval by many of the Lords under her. Yet, even then people only started getting more agitated when the Crown Killer came about. Now the public feels like they can not say one negative word unless they want to risk getting slaughtered. She was viewed as a careless leader at first but now they think she's a murderer. Those are two completely different things.

Emily sighs at the thought. It is looking very poorly for her. She just needs to be patient and wait. Follow Corvo's teachings and strike when the moment shows itself. Emily is in deep thought as the shuffling of footsteps soon get her attention. A guard, pushing along a cart filled with plates of bread stops for a moment in front of her cell. A small latch on the side her cell is opened as the young guard slides a plate into her cell before quickly shutting it.

"Dinner time. A meal fit for the Empress herself," the guard jokes. The singular half loaf of bread is sitting on the plate. It looks far from appealing but does not look hideous. It's just bread.

"Gee. Just what I wanted," Emily comments while she walks to the bars to pick up her food.

The guard shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't give you a piece with mold on it. I think that was kind of me." With that final comment the guard walks away from her sight. Emily picks up the food and starts to eat it at her bed. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she took her first bite. As much as she would hate to admit it but she's desperately hungry. She's been here for almost 24 hours now and all she's had to eat so far is this bread. Her stomach growls more and more even as she eats. The bread is stale and flavorless. However, it is all she has right now, and Emily understands she needs to take everything she could get. She eats it all in less than five minutes and she's still hungry at the end of her "meal". Bread isn't enough but at least she won't starve for now. Though Emily knows she can not stay like this. This place is dooming her to failure. She needs to get out. She needs to come up with a plan to escape and quick.


End file.
